Scientific Evidence on the Environmental and Health Effects of Land Application of Biosolids

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Abstract

The study is an objective evaluation of the controversy on whether the practice
of land application of biosolids for soil enrichment and restoration poses significant harm
to the environment, human and animal health. Over the years, many review articles have
concluded that the majority of research show that the practice poses less harm as
compared to the benefits. This in turn made the United States Environmental Protection
Agency to promote its use for soil enrichment and restoration. In an attempt to obtain an
objective evaluation, based on reliable scientific evidence of the controversy, Google
Scholar search was conducted using the phrase “environmental and health effects of
land application of sewage sludge/biosolids”. The search result yielded 86 research
articles directly related to the topic. The 86 articles were then comprehensively studied
and grouped into three categories: those research findings that proved that land
application of biosolids poses significant harm to the environment, human and animal
health, those that proved that the practice does not pose significant harm to the
environment, human and animal health and those that were inclusive and suggest
precaution in using biosolids for soil enrichment and restoration.
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Out of the total of 86 research articles studied, 42 or about 49% found that land
application of biosolids posed significant harm to the environment, human and animal
health as opposed to 33 or about 38% concluding no significant harm. Furthermore,
when research conducted in the U.S. were extracted from the 86 global research articles,
about 51% found that land application of biosolids posed significant harm to the
environment, human and animal health as opposed to about 36% concluding no
significant harm. The U.S. articles numbered 47 or about 55% of the total articles
reviewed. Based on these statistics from the current study, it is evident that majority of
the studies conducted over the past 15 years suggest that land application of biosolids
for soil enrichment and restoration poses significant harm to the environment, human
and animal health.